Trading Places; Atlanta Falcons 34 – New York Giants 0

Atlanta, GA – In a stinker of a game, the New York Giants lost to the Atlanta Falcons 34-0 at the Georgia Super Dome, further complicating the Giants chances of making the playoffs. The last time the Giants were shutout was on Dec 1, 1996; I was still in high school that year. I’m sorry but to all my Giants Gabbers; this was an embarrassment and its something that can’t be justified whatsoever.

It looked as if the Giants and Falcons traded places; remember when the Giants demolished the Falcons in last seasons Divisional Game at MetLife Stadium 24-2. As I sat and compared the tapes between both games, it was clear that the Giants as a whole did not play loose and were thinking way too much. You are in the NFL fellas, you are not paid to think; the New York Giants formula is to get to the quarterback and make him suffer on the defensive end, THAT’S IT!!

Last season vs. Giants, nothing worked for the Atlanta Falcons as they tried going for “it” on fourth down twice and were unsuccessful. Flipping back to yesterday, the Giants were faced with three chances at converting on fourth down; end result: turnover on downs 3 TIMES!! Last year, the Giants PASS RUSH was dominant got to Matt Ryan making him extremely uncomfortable by making his feet “HOT” as we have heard several Giants defensive players made reference to in the past with regards to getting to the QB. Going back to last night, the NY Giants did not establish that aspect on the defensive side of the ball. (Will touch on the offense later in the article), Matt Ryan was extremely comfortable in yesterday’s win (23-28, 82% completion rate, 270 yds, 3TD, 0 INT) and moved up and down the field with ease against the Giants. Antrelle Rolle’s comments a couple of weeks ago; about the defense not having enough “dog in them” seemed to have gone in one ear and out the other yesterday and displayed more poodle than dog; (shaking my head)

Eli Manning (13-25, 52% completion rate, 161 yds, 2 INTs) was his old self again; within the first two possessions gave up the ball to the opposing team, giving them short field and resulting in two quick scores for the Falcons. I don’t know about you, but this is getting to be very tiresome to watch and to be quite honest, Eli deserves all the blame for this loss, hands down. Those two turnovers seemed to have sucked the fight in the team and you could see it by the way they played out the rest of the game. As Eli goes, the team follows and these next two games, Eli has to be Elite or the Giants will lose their chance of defending the crown. Its all on Eli now.

Coach Coughlin and staff these individuals are not to blame because let’s face it; they do not play on the field, PERIOD. It is very easy to say, they should have gone for the points at half time but in the words of Herm Edwards, “YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME” The coaches job is to position the team for a chance to win, nothing more, nothing less. It is so amazing to hear the so called fans when their team is down and out saying things such as “fire the coaching staff”, get rid of this player, get rid of that player… AMAZING I TELL YA!! What if the roles were switched, HUH? what if you slipped up one time at your job and then to hear your peers say, “GET RID OF THAT PERSON, THEY STINK!! you wouldn’t like it, WOULD YA? I rest my case.

Giants outlook: Currently, the Giants are tied for first place with the Cowboys and Redskins at 8-6 but are technically in third place in the NFC East; all due to Giants division record being 2-3. The Giants still hold their future in their hands by needing to win both games against the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles. Either the Washington Redskins or the Dallas Cowboys will take the first wild card position with the Giants following only if they win both games. Only the Minnesota Vikings have climbed up in the discussion for the last wild card spot but will not make it the playoffs if the Giants win both games. Desperate times calls for desperate measures and its up the Giants, to make it happen.

PC – thanks for reading my article. Let’s hope that the Giants come out of this funk (stopping the run) and making the playoffs first and foremost. The Giants just need to play smarter. On defense, the front four needs to establish the pass rush so that the secondary does not get exposed as they have been all year.

Carlos, you blame this loss on Eli? Thats laughable. this loss is squarely on the shoulders of the defense. Every joker announcer who broadcasts the Giants on TV or Radio boasts that the Giants have one of the Best D-Lines in Football. Ya? Really? which one of these guys is playing well this year? Tuck? LOL, what a mopey dude, head is slanted, no excitement, most importantly, ZERO EFFECT on the game, JPP? he must be injured, he hasnt made a play in weeks, Osi? LOL, once every two games he makes a strip sack, the other 60-70 plays hes a non factor, except for when he CONSTANTLY gets sucked into the wrong position by the Offense, either by traps or not being able to hold the edge and force a run inside so that blackburn could miss another tackle. the D-Line has been AWEFULL, plain and simple all year. every single guy, not one of them is playing well. the Linebackers, even worse.. Blackburn tries his butt off, but he isnt good. Boley, seems like hes always a step late. Then that comes to the D-backs.. the worst, bar none in the league. I watch every giants game twice and at least 3-4 other games a weekend, the giants leave more guys wide open in one game then the rest of the league does over the weekend. they are atrocious, and im not sure if its the guys or the system. Michael Coe was cut two weeks ago and he couldnt even play for the giants, but then I see him on Dallas, two plays in row, breaking up a pass. I think the Giants may have 10 legit passes defensed all year. the CB’s play soft and dont tackle, and the safeties are ALWAYS out of position. they do have take aways, but Id give those back for steady play any day of the week. this defense is the worst in the league. whenever they need a stop, they dont get it. when the game is on the line and they need a 3 and out and they know the other team is gonna run it, they cant even stop the run. Last week, yes, Eli had a bad interception on the first throw. you know, the defense could have bailed him out for once rather than him constantly bailing the defense out over the last 3-4 years. but what happened after the interception? 4 runs right up the middle, for an easy TD? Please dont tell me Eli is to blame for a loss..

You make good points however my article was coming from a more collectible standpoint. If you have time, read my article again, I by no means am blaming solely Eli for the Giants loss. I’m not one to just blame certain players for a loss, its a team game and my perspectives are from a team perspective, highlighting certain aspects of the game; “game changers” if you may.

But, when your QB gives up the ball in their own territory TWICE so early in the game, it puts a tremendous amount of stress/pressure on the defense to stop the opposition so close to the goal line, agree? On both possessions the Falcons high-powered offense were able to put up points, it didn’t matter whether it was a TD or FG, its points, period. You cannot play like that with an offense such as the Falcons possess.

The summary of the story is this Dave; the team goes as ELI goes; turnovers from the QB can have a negative affect on the defense. Granted, no team ever plays a perfect game but Eli’s mistakes definitely had a BIG effect on the outcome of the game.

With regards to the defense; they are ranked 28th overall but its really simple, stop the opposing running game. If the defense can do that, it makes the opposing offense one dimensional, which allows the NYG front four to do what they do best; “get after the QB” The corners were still bad last year as well but what was different last year? They stopped the run and made the opposition one-dimensional.

Thanks for writing back.. I read the whole article again.. you clearly say in the article that “Eli deserves all the blame for this loss, hands down.” While agree with you that he hasnt been at his best since earlier in the year, its EXTREMELY difficult to win football games when an ENTIRE side of the ball is inept. This team won last year despite the defensive short comings. It has all been figuired out by what Philly has done, the Cowboys and now the Redskins to the Giants.. they run the ball effectively (maybe not Dallas this year, but instead they hit the TE (i think 19 times) on short routes, and then they take shots. Teams now know that the Giants used to have a dominant front 4.. IMO, the giants have fallen in love with rushing 4 guys, and falling back and playing soft. that leads to other teams completing 70-75% of there throws (even if they are short) and the Giants being suseptible to the run. I dont think Ive seen more than 10 corner/safety blitzes all year. The LB blitzes are Blackburn up the middle that does nothing more than eat a blocker, there is ZERO defensive strategy. What is Perry Fewell’s claim to fame? How does his defense play? we dont know.. he thinks they have a dominant front 4 which this year they dont, and he relies on pressure that isnt coming. so, in essence, they dont stop the run, they dont stop the short pass, they dont fly to the ball, and on top of that, they have more WIDE open recievers against them than in any other games Ive watched all year. Each game this year, there has been a WIDE open receiver streaking down the field with a defensive malfunction. you say last year it didnt happen? well, Ill point to Dallas when Romo Missed a WIDE OPEN WR that would have killed the Gaints season. he missed him because hes ROmo and the Defense had nothing to do with that and Brady missed Welker who would still be running if he didnt make a bad throw that welker dropped and the Giants lose that game. My point about Eli is this. Yes, hes made some bad throws, for sure.. but you would think maybe ONE time the defense could hold the opposing team after a Turnover to 3 pts. the NEVER do. Last year Eli bailed the defense out in almost every win, he’d lead them on a drive for a score late in the game and the Defense gave it right back, difference was Eli brought them back again. this year, it was evident in the first Redskin game.. Giants take the lead late in the game, Redskins WALK right down the field and score a TD to regain the lead with a little time left, ELi gets the ball and throws a 75 yards TD to Cruz. Carlos, even if the Defense is ranked 28th, they are by far the WORST playing defense in the league.. If I had to game plan against them, it would be elementary. short passes to the TE, gain 8-9 yards, get first downs on runs, play action pass, watch the awefull Giant LB’s and safeties bite and throw to WIDE open WR’s downfield..
Dave

I stand corrected, lol.. you are correct. I did blame Eli for this loss, my bad. I guess at the time I wrote this, I was pretty ticked off. I may have been making reference to the dumb mistakes he’s done this year; cumulative effect.

Based on your statement, you believe that the TE (Martellus Bennett) should been used more to stretch the defense; I totally agree with that sentiment. The TE baits the defense to clog the middle of the field allowing the WRs to do there thing on the outside. I believe the Giants will “right the ship” for the next two games and utilize the TE.

As far as the defense, there are worst teams on Defense; i.e. Redskins, Jags, etc… You made points about the secondary malfunctions; yes, just about every play a WR from the opposing team who is “open” but a lot of the big plays the Giants secondary allows is due to mis-communication between the corners and safeties; not the coaches fault. The coach is not out on the field.

It all comes down to collective efforts from the players. Play your assignments, and the rest shall piece itself together. Hopefully these next two games, the Giants will do just THAT!

Who cares who is to blame for the loss? THEY LOST, and badly. However we all know the blame goes on both lines, Eli was under more duress than ever and Matt Ryan had a comfortable pocket for 90% of the game. Giants football will never change, dominate the LOS and win, get blown off the ball and lose.